Mexican journalists protest against death of Javier Cárdenas, urge government to protect media

Journalist Valdez was shot dead on 15 May near the offices of the newspaper he had founded.

Mexican media persons took to streets to protest against the murder of their colleague and a fearless journalist Javier Valdez Cárdenas, who was shot dead on Monday, 15 May.

The 50-year-old award-winning journalist, who had reported on organised crime, drug-trafficking and corruption, was killed after gunmen opened fire on his car in his home town of Culiacan.

On Tuesday, a number of journalists took to streets to voice against the killing and wrote "They are killing us" and "No to silence" - a phrase used by Valdez - on the road next to the iconic Monument to Independence on the main thoroughfare, Paseo de la Reforma.

They also displayed the picture of the deceased reporter during the protest, the BBC reported.

While others, who could not manage to come out due to their jobs, worked below his projected image on a big screen.

Judith Calderón Gómez, the head of journalists' lobby group Casa de los Derechos de Periodistas, called on the government of Enrique Peña Nieto to take necessary steps. She also asked the government to "give a real sign they are interested in guaranteeing journalism in the country".

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), around 40 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 1992; while, 21 journalists were murdered in the past decade with "complete impunity".

Gómez said during the protest that prosecutions had only happened in about 0.03% of cases of the murdered reporters.

Mexican news outlets Animal Político and Tercera Vía have also announced that they would go on strike on Wednesday to protest against the murder and the continuing risk against the lives of the journalists.

Cárdenas was among several journalists who have been killed in Mexico in 2017.

In March, three journalists were killed in a month. Cecilio Pineda Birto, a freelancer and the founder of La Voz de Tierra Caliente, was killed at a car wash in Guerrero state; while, Ricardo Monlui, a journalist for El Politico and syndicated columnist for several other outlets, was murdered on 19 March.

Miroslava Breach was the third to be killed in the same month. She was shot at least eight times outside her garage in the northern state of Chihuahua.

The 54-year-old was working with the national newspaper La Jornada and like Cárdenas, she had also extensively reported on organised crime, drug-trafficking and corruption in the country.